


an ode to a missing hand

by mindelan



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, i thought it was about time someone rebuilt him, k-2so is back and he's ready to be snarky, only a little bit tho this is mostly fluff, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 13:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12169878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mindelan/pseuds/mindelan
Summary: Cassian returns from a long and exhausting mission only to be surprised by the return of an old friend.





	an ode to a missing hand

Joreth Sward isn’t the alias that Cassian hates most; that honor is awarded first and foremost to Captain Willex. But Sward is still an Imperial-aligned scumbag with a tendency cheat business partners and harass women, and that’s the last kind of person that Cassian wants to be.

It’s always hard becoming Cassian Andor again, especially after a long undercover mission. Shedding a personality he’s worn for the past couple weeks takes a kind of persistence he doesn’t feel right now. He’s tired and in desperate need of a bath, and as he starts his descent back on Hoth he can already feel a headache start to pound at his temples.

He wonders briefly if Jyn will be waiting in the hangar for him, then realizes the improbability of that thought. She’s probably out on another mission that won’t return until he’s shipped off again -- which only is further proof of how bantha shit their luck has been lately.

With a heavy sigh, he lands the shuttle and mentally prepares himself for a cold night huddling under the blankets. It might not be so bad, considering how he can barely keep his eyes open right now, but it would be much better if Jyn was there to keep him warm.

_(later, much later, he’ll tell himself that sheer exhaustion is why he didn’t notice k-2so standing in the hangar, arms crossed and looking as petulant as ever. it’s not because he’s resigned himself to the reality that it’d be nearly impossible to finish rebuilding kay when he’s barely on base, so he simply assumes that he’s hallucinating and continues on. )_

“Cassian. You have arrived approximately four hours and thirty-three minutes ahead of schedule. This is unlike you. You are usually late.”

At the sound of Kay’s voice -- he’s awake enough to realize that only one Imperial droid can manage to sound so damn sarcastic -- Cassian nearly chokes, spinning around _“Kay?”_

“Of course it’s me,” Kaytoo responds, taking a loping step forward. Cassian takes the moment to examine him. Apart from missing a right hand and a leg that seems a bit too short, he looks almost exactly as he did right before Scarif. The sight of him nearly takes the air right out of Cassian’s lungs. “It has only been six months and four days since Scarif. It is highly improbable that you would have forgotten me. Have you hit your head?”

“No -- I just -- “ Cassian is lost for words. He drags a hand over his face, then grins. There’s an unpleasant twinge in his neck when he has to look up at Kay, but it doesn’t bother him like it usually would. “How is this possible?”

Kay doesn’t answer, instead holds up a finger to Cassian’s eyes. “Follow my finger with your eyes. Jyn Erso told me that your injuries have healed from Scarif, but I don’t believe her. She is not trustworthy and I don’t like her.”

Cassian’s too dumbfounded to do anything except comply, following the droid’s finger until he’s satisfied. “Jyn did this?”

“I called in a couple of favors,” a familiar voice says to his left and Cassian turns. Jyn’s standing there, fiddling with the necklace around her neck and the other hand propped against her hip. “Well -- at first, I just asked Bodhi to help. But then Skywalker wandered over because he’s always right behind Bodhi and then I made Han help because he owes me from the mission on Bespin and between the four of us, we managed to get him up and running.” She pauses, realizing that she’s rambling, and an embarrassed flush creeps its way up her neck. “So -- uh, surprise?”

Cassian’s only response is to pull her into a tight hug. She squeaks when he does it, but wraps her arms around him too. “Thank you,” he murmurs, unable to say anything else, but she seems to understand. His heart feels so incredibly full that he thinks it might burst. _“Thank you.”_

“I am not thankful,” Kaytoo says loudly, interrupting the moment (which is exactly what he does best). Cassian pulls away from Jyn and gives him a _Look._ “What? Jyn Erso did not give me a right hand so I don’t see any reason to thank her. You would have given me a right hand.”

“You don’t deserve a right hand,” Jyn shoots back, but there’s no heat in it. She looks just as happy to have the droid back as he imagines he does.

“Kay,” Cassian says, a hint of amusement lacing his tone. He hadn't realized how much he had missed this. “She _did_ rebuild you.”

“Bodhi Rook and Luke Skywalker rebuilt me. Jyn Erso and Han Solo sat off to the side and drank Corellian rum.”

“I absolutely helped,” Jyn retorts, crossing her arms over her chest. Cassian can see that she’s dangerously close to whacking Kay in the chest. “You just didn’t see it because you weren’t online yet.”

“Based on past data, I can conclude that there is a eighty-seven percent chance you got into Bodhi Rook’s way until Han Solo brought alcohol and you decided to give up.”

By the way that she tilts her chin up haughtily and narrows her eyes, Cassian knows that that’s absolutely true.

But Jyn’s always been too stubborn for her own good, and there’s no way she’d admit that, especially not to Kay, so she declares instead, “I have no problem taking off your other hand, you know.”

K-2SO swivels his head in her direction. “You would _not._ ”

“I absolutely _would_. I’ve got a screwdriver back in my room and it’ll only take me two minutes to go and grab it.”

“Cassian will not let you,” he responds primly, then turns back to Cassian, who’s trying to muffle his laughter behind a hand. “Cassian, please tell Jyn Erso that you will not let her take off my other hand.”

The ridiculousness of the whole situation takes a weight off his shoulders that he hadn’t even noticed was there until now. It’s been a long time -- maybe even long before Scarif -- since he’s felt this light.

“No one’s taking off anyone’s hands,” Cassian placates. Jyn shoots him a dirty look and Kay is looking rather smug until he adds, “At least, not until after my briefing.”

With that, he starts walking, fully expecting the other two follow him. Kay does, but it takes a couple of steps for him to realize that Jyn hasn’t moved. When he glances over his shoulder to look at her, there’s a small sad smile playing on her face.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” she promises in response to his unspoken question. “You two go on ahead.”

Cassian nods, but disappointment curls at the bottom of his stomach. He can’t remember a time when they were both on base since Scarif that Jyn hasn’t tagged along to his mission briefings, Draven’s preferences be damned.

He turns to Kay instead, swallowing. Despite everything he’s feeling right now, he’s never been more happy to see the droid. “It’s good to have you back, Kay.”

“It’s good to be back,” Kay responds, not bothering to move out of the way when a new recruit comes barreling down the hallway. When the kid stops and stares at him, K-2SO only stares back. “What do you want?”

The recruit sends Cassian a nervous look, clearly wondering what the hell an Imperial droid is doing walking around base with an Intelligence Officer. Cassian sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. It’s likely that this kid wasn’t around before Scarif. “It’s fine. He’s with me.”

“Like I was saying,” the droid continues dryly, as the recruit continues on his way. “I am grateful that Bodhi Rook rebuilt me. Somebody has to keep you out of trouble and I do not trust Jyn Erso to do it.”

“She’s done a pretty good job so far,” Cassian replies. “I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

“There is a sixty-seven percent chance that she will get you killed in a way that could easily be avoided when taking the time to figure out a plan.”

Cassian can’t argue with that -- Jyn’s notorious around base for running into trouble head on, but he knows that she’ll do anything to keep him safe. She’s been injured protecting him more than once since she’s joined the Rebellion. “I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree.”

“Fine,” K-2SO says petulantly, as Cassian holds the door to the briefing room open for him. “After all, it’s not like I was programmed for statistical analysis or anything.”

Later, once he’s done speaking with Draven and manages to get K-2SO to power down for the night, he slips into his room expecting to find Jyn waiting for him. Instead of reading a datapad in bed or watching a holo like she usually is when he’s late, she’s curled into a small ball under layers of blankets in the middle of their bed.

“Jyn?” Cassian says softly when she stirs. She looks up at him blearily, blinking confusion out of her eyes before she realizes that it’s him.

“Hey, Cass,” she mumbles, sitting up and running a hand through her messy hair. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

Taking off his boots, he points out, “I live here. Unless you’re kicking me out. . .?”

“No, no!” Jyn replies, alarmed. “I just thought that maybe you’d want to catch up with Kay. That’s all.”

There’s something in her voice that he can’t quite identify. It’d be a lot easier if he could see her face, but the room is dark and he can barely make her out. He slips into bed next to her and she wraps herself around him, but there’s hesitation in her moments and he knows her too well to ignore it. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” she snaps, then takes a breath, realizing how harsh her voice sounds. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s Kay,” he guesses. He knows he’s right when he feels Jyn nod against his chest.

“I figured you’d want to spend time with him,” she admits. “I didn’t think. . .I don’t know. It’s stupid. You should get some rest.”

“He’s not going to replace you, Jyn,” he murmurs instead, finally figuring out the issue. Her lingering in the hangar makes sense now. “We’re a team, remember? I’m with you, all the way.”

Her fingers curl tighter around his back and she pulls him toward her. “I know,” she says quietly. “But it’s -- it’s hard. I’m so used to it happening that I assumed. . .”

Cassian presses a kiss collarbone as she reaches up to stroke the hair at the nape of his neck. He knows firsthand how hard it is to unlearn these kind of things. So he changes the subject instead, leaving the issue alone for the night. “Thank you for fixing him. It means a lot.”

“Didn’t you hear Kay?” she responds with a laugh. “I didn’t do much except stand around and drink.”

“Still,” he says, letting his eyes shut closed. He can feel the necklace he gave her pressed up against his cheek and it makes him smile. “You got everyone together to do it. It was your idea. Thank you, Jyn.”

If it wasn’t so dark, he would have seen her blushing. “It’s nothing. Go to sleep. I’ve got you.”

In the morning, he wakes to the sound of Kay pounding against the door, saying something about there being a sixty-nine percent chance that Jyn is in bed with him. He only smiles and ignores it, relishing the way that he’s still in Jyn’s arms and sinks back into sleep quickly.

Even with Kay threatening to knock down the door, it’s the happiest he’s been ever since he returned to Hoth.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading and i hope you enjoyed!


End file.
